What outdoor switch

[Andy Burns]

I presume something else plugged into the socket does work?

[RobH]

Yes it does, and I used an electric pistol drill yesterday.

[RobH]

Yes I did but he said he was busy so just went on his way

[RobH]

Before I do anything, I know the exchanged light works, where do I put both neutrals, leave them how they are as per my picture, or differently.

Thanks

[Andy Burns]

leave them in the choc-block within the switch box

[Tim Watts]

Looks fine L+N wise.

Where's the earth? Does the lamp fitting have one or is it double insulated (marked with a square inside a square) like:

Your circuit should look like: / Supply L-----o o--------L Lamp

Supply N-----------------N Lamp Supply E----SwitchE------E Lamp if present

[RobH]

With both live wires in the com port and the 2 neutrals in the choc block, the light does not work.

[RobH]

Thanks but I have the picture shared now and it works for others ok

[Andy Burns]

so the light did work when you put a plug direct on the black wire?

switch could be faulty ... but faulty switch as well as faulty LED, unlucky?

unplug the orange cable and check it for damage.

check you've not got insulation trapped in the switch terminals rather than good contact to the copper.

did anything go 'bang' at any previous stage? if so switch contacts could be welded

[The Natural Philosopher]

Not for me they don't.

[John Rumm]

ok, so you have a problem that is not related to the switch. By having the neutrals joined in the block, and the lives joined in the switch terminal (i.e. using the switch as nothing more than and oversized chock block), the light should be permanently on.

You need to take this step at a time starting at one end.

Do you have a multimeter? If so that would make testing quicker.

I would take the following steps:

Check the socket actually works by plugging in something else.

Now check the wiring of your plug - blue wire to left terminal, brown to right terminal.

Check that the insulation is correctly stripped in the terminals.

Check the fuse is making good contact at both ends. Try a different fuse.

Now do similar checks at the light.

If you have a multimeter, then stick it in continuity check mode (or a low ohms range), and check that you can measure conductivity between the right hand pin of the plug (when its unplugged and you are looking at the pin side), and your neutral chock block. Now check the left pin to the com terminal.

Then check from live pin to L1 or L2 - you should see that flipping the switch makes or breaks continuity.

[John Rumm]

Ah, ok read this after my last post... you can ignore the fault finding steps then!

[Andy Burns]

The photos.google ones don't, but the drive.google one does

[RobH]

No no bang , but I have found that the fuse had tripped in the box inside the house.

I have checked the light works with a plug into the socket all the way back to the switch end. Then when I put both lives into com and 2 neutrals into the choc block, it doesn't work. I checked the fuse again and it didn't trip this time.

[charles]

to ensure the incoming and out-going wires are making a proper connection, twist the two conductors (the copper bits) together before putting to tehchoc block or switch terminal.

[RobH]

Yes I do

All ok after checking

It was

The 3amp fuse is ok and so is a 5amp one, as they both read full scale on my needle type meter. (Can't remember if it's analogue or not)

Yes there was continuity between to 2 points

Now check the left pin to the com terminal.

Same again , continuity between the 2 points

Putting the meter on L1 or 1 way, and the live pin of the plug , then flipping the switch does indeed makes and breaks continuity.

Do I need to put a neutral, or both wires into 1 way or L1.

[Andy Burns]

No, the neutral doesn't want to connect to the switch, that'll trip your house MCB or fuse again

[RobH]

Ok so what do I need to do now to get it working by the switch. Plug in the orange/power cable, and hope for the best.

[Andy Burns]

if the wires are re-connected as per your google drive photo, then yes that should work, but we can't see everything from one photo.

You are there and (with it unplugged) can systematically trace the continuity of the live then the neutral from plug via switch to LED with your multimeter.

[RobH]

After tracing continuity on both neutral and live wires as far back as possible, ie from end to end, when I plugged in the power cable and put both lives into com again. The light came on, but was not switchable, ie it was permanently on and could only be switched of at the plug end